


Power Flare

by Mobysimo, MrGerudoMan



Series: PokéDrones [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Brainwashing, Collaboration, Everyone Is Gay, Fanfiction, Gay, Gay Male Character, Gen, Hypnosis, Kalos-chihou | Kalos Region (Pokemon), Latex, Mind Control, Pokemon, Revenge, Team Flare (Pokemon), drone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:08:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29613375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mobysimo/pseuds/Mobysimo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrGerudoMan/pseuds/MrGerudoMan
Summary: Collaboration with Mobysimo===/===/===After multiple failures, Lysandre has finally had enough of Calem meddling in his plans, and has the trainer captured and converted into a drone who will do his bidding.Been a while since I did a PokéDrones story, and this one in particular could be seen as a replacement of my original Team Flare story, which I don't think too highly of anymore, and neither did VicenteKS, so we decided to work together and write a new one. We had a blast writing this. Can't wait for the next collab.===/===/===Pokémon © Game Freak
Series: PokéDrones [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175687
Kudos: 7





	Power Flare

**Author's Note:**

> Check out Mobysimo's Patreon  
> https://www.patreon.com/Mobysimo

Lysandre sat hunched over at his desk, scanning through the digital database of Team Flare. The seemingly chivalrous inventor and entrepreneur, which was all a ruse to trick the world and hide his true intentions, was keen on making sure everything that he had set into motion would occur without incident. Nothing could go wrong, as his perfect world was on the line. However, the more he looked at the files, the more irked he became, as he discovered that they had lagged behind, and the team’s operations were now off schedule. 

“I don’t understand.” Lysandre remarked, rubbing his temples to try and ease the frustration, “We were on point for several weeks. Our operations have been running smoothly and under the radar for so long, but now we’ve been thwarted at every turn! The police are on our scent, and the public has started to take notice of Team Flare more and more! How can this be?! I made sure EVERYTHING was perfect!” 

Indeed, Team Flare’s commander had made sure everything was perfect, but he hadn’t accounted for a new variable that had entered the picture within the last few weeks. 

“If it hadn’t been for those… Oh those kids from Vaniville Town!” he cursed, “To think my perfect plans could be thrown off the rails by a couple of rag tag kids from the middle of nowhere! Kids who only just got their Pokémon as well!” 

Out of nowhere, his operations had been discovered by a band of children chosen by Professor Sycamore to complete the Pokédex, and ever since then they had been dogged by the cops. Their failure to retrieve the fossils at the Glittering Cave, combined with their discovery outside of Geosenge Town had put the team on edge, and delayed operations significantly. Everywhere they went, Team Flare seemed to cross paths with these five children, especially their strongest trainer, Calem, someone who was quickly becoming a rising star in the league circuit. To think that their operations were put on hold because of them made Lysandre’s blood boil. 

“Ugh it’s so embarrassing I feel like I’m going to choke!” he moaned, pounding at his desk. 

His ramblings were interrupted by the hissing of his office door opening. He turned around to see one of his top scientists walk into the room. She was clad in the typical bright red colors of Team Flare, but unlike most of the others in the organization, she was clad in a dress with white highlights and thigh high orange socks. Strapped to her face was a rather complex looking visor that glowed a gentle orange and clashed with the rest of the outfit.

“Aliana…” he growled as he saw her dust some orange dust from her dress.

“H-Hello sir,” she stammered out, sweat pouring down her forehead, though if it was from the heat of the Badlands or from nerves, Lysandre couldn’t tell.

“Report, and it had better be good,” he barked, playing dumb about the report, “What’s the status of the Power Plant?”

“Well…” she struggled to answer, afraid of what he would do when he heard her report.

“Well? Why are you stalling??” he barked out again

She gulped, “Well… it’s not good.” she admitted, “The Power Plant operation was a total failure.” 

“WHAT?!” Lysandre imploded, shooting up from his desk, a fire in his eyes. “And here I thought you screwing up to a pack of people who just turned 18 was bad enough! But now you're telling me you weren’t even able to get the power we needed from the plant!?”

“Y-Yes sir…. N-None of the grunts could figure out how to work the plant, and the workers refused to speak, even under threat of torture….” 

“Hmph! Typical.” 

“To make matters worse… the professor’s children did show up… and helped to drive us out of the plant before we could generate enough power for the project.” 

The fire headed man growled and slammed his fist on the table, a loud crack ringing out through the office as wood shattered under his hand. He glared at the scientist, who just stood there in shock at the display of absolute rage. He caught out of the corner of his eye as the door behind her slid open. 

“Tell me that at least we have a lead on Target Alpha,” he muttered.

“T-Target Alpha?” Aliana asked, confused “I don’t-

“I WASN’T TALKING TO YOU!” Lysandre shouted at her. She squeaked and covered her mouth as someone else walked into the room.

“We do indeed have a lead on target Alpha, sir” said a woman wearing a dress very similar to Aliana, only with blue hair and goggles matching it.

“At least there’s some good news. Where is he Mable?” Lysandre asked, calming down.

“We’ve been tracking him for a few months, sir.” she reported, “He’s not easy to pin down, seeing how off the grid he is. But data shows he’s on his way to Dendemille Town.”

“Dendemille…” Lysandre muttered, nodding at her, “Good, take a few grunts and ambush him. Head out right now, I don’t want those brats getting in the way again. And if you find anything that could prove useful, grab it as well.”

“Yes, sir!” Mable gave her commander a salute, and marched out of his office, with Aliana timidly following her, still reeling from her report. 

Lysandre leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling and its metal tiles. He took note of how perfectly in line they were, and how seamlessly all of the panels came together to form such an innocuous part of the room. He envied that, wishing for the kind of perfection and conformity that he had first envisioned with Team Flare’s grand plan. The children, especially the one leader, had become a nuisance, and an imperfection in what was a flawless plan. There were cracks in the ceiling, and rust in the panels, and must be dealt with accordingly, either taken out of the picture entirely, or made to conform. 

“Conform…” He blinked at that thought and grabbed the microphone for the PA system, “Xerosic, get up here to my office now.” he said as he glanced out the window behind him. 

The empty power chamber of the Ultimate Weapon sat beyond it, with dozens of Team Flare members dashing about preparing it. One of them, a man so pale Lysandre believed he could pass off as Dracula himself with no issues when they first met, moved away from the construction and headed for the elevator that connected his office to the chamber. As he waited, he stood at the window, watching his team fiddling about with the Ultimate Weapon. As they did so, the Tree of Life and the Cocoon of Destruction sat idly by, waiting for them to begone, and leave them at peace once again. However much they wished to be left alone, they were key to his master plan, and could not accommodate their ancient seals for much longer. 

A beep rang out as the elevator hissed open. “You called, sir?” said Xerosic as he walked out, his oddly emotionless voice echoing through the room.

“I did,” Lysandre said as he sat down behind his desk again, “Before that, what’s the estimated progress?”

“So far, I would say we’re ahead of schedule by a few days. It was a danger transporting the Cocoon of Destruction here. We did lose a few grunts who did not listen and put their hazmat suits on incorrectly.”

“If they were too dumb to use them, then they’re no great loss,” Lysandre scoffed, waving his hand, “Still, at least something is ahead of schedule. We’ll have to go with the method from the legends of Kalos. The Power Plant raid was a dismal failure.”

“So I have heard.” Xerosic said, lowering his head, seemingly cracking a smile.

“Have one of the admins prepare the materials outlined in the legends. At least we gathered enough pokeballs for this plan to work.”

“One of the admins, sir?” the pale man asked, “I believe I can handle the task much better.”

“I know you can, Xerosic. But I have a different task for you.” Lysandre leaned forwards over the paperwork on his desk, “Tell me, is your... pet project still in production?”

“Why…..yes” Xerosic said, this time not trying to hide the rather peculiar looking grin on his face “It is. Why do you ask? I thought you said Team Flare had no use for it.”

“Times change, and so must our plans. However, we don’t need to use it on one of our own.” Lysandre said, giving the man a look.

“Ah I see.” the scientist answered, seemingly reading Lysandre’s mind, “Well, it would take some adjustments to do what you have in mind. For something like that, the project would take some… custom work specific for the subject. I will need them to be physically present.”

“I think that can be arranged.” Lysandre said with a smile “Luckily, I have someone who can tell me where our… ‘volunteer’ is exactly.” he tapped a few buttons on his keyboard, making the built in Holo-Caster on his desk light up. After a few seconds of static, a woman with pink hair and orange sunglasses appeared.

“Malva speaking,” she said, not seeing who she was talking to.

“Malva,” the man said calmly, “I have a small assignment for you.”

“Course,” she said with a smile, “What do you need, boss?”

“Can you tell us the progress of a specific trainer on the Gym Circuit? Xerosic needs to know to which he’s headed next.”

“Course,” the Elite Four member said with a predatory smile, “What’s his name?”

* * *

“Thank you for waiting,” Nurse Joy said as she handed the young man a bundle of pokeballs “We’ve restored your Pokemon to full health!”

“Thanks, Nurse Joy!” the 18 year old Calem said with a smile as he took them back, putting them in his bag.

She bowed to the trainer, “We hope to see you again.” she said with a smile. With his Pokémon healed, Calem took a minute to check the Poké Mart for any deals, refilling his stock of Super Potions and Great Balls before heading back out onto the streets of Lumiose City. 

The City of Lights was illuminated once again, now that the power from the Power Plant was no longer being diverted by Team Flare and their horrible antics. The entire city was now full of life, with people milling about its streets and boulevards, eager to revisit their favorite haunts and experience the city’s nightlife again. Its crowning jewel, Prism Tower, rose above the city, glistening in the night sky. It was good to be back in Lumiose City.

Gogoats walked up and down the streets, looking at pedestrians as they walked past, seeing if they were interested in a ride. Taxis drove up and down the roads, carrying trainers and tourists who didn’t really know the city’s layout to their destinations. As he walked out, he saw a large hologram pop out from one of the walls, one of various Holo-Caster projectors Lysandre Labs had installed through the city to make sure even those without Holo-Casters could hear the news.

“Yes the lights are back on in Lumiose City and many other parts of the Kalos Region thanks to the efforts of police and individual trainers in the Badlands.” the reporter stated, a picture of the Power Plant over her shoulder, “The Kalos Power Plant is back up and running, supplying all of its power to the Kalos Region once again. According to the head engineer, the workers are working to make up for lost time by installing some proposed upgrades early. The Power Plant, the largest in the region, had been taken over by the group only known as Team Flare, and power was diverted from the station, causing widespread blackouts throughout northern and western Kalos, as well as within Lumiose City. Investigations are currently ongoing to discover exactly where the energy was diverted to and for what purpose, but efforts so far have proven fruitless.”

“Course they have,” Calem muttered as he walked down the streets, illuminated both by the streetlamps and the full moon in the sky. He turned off of North Boulevard and headed down Hibernal Avenue, with Prism Tower in full view just down the street, rising up from the center square. The tower was a sight to behold, easily the tallest building he had ever seen in his entire life, even taller than Shalour City’s Tower of Mastery or the numerous skyscrapers back in Castelia City in the Unova Region, where his mother had lived for a few years due to her career. He could only guess how expensive it had been to build, but the cost had clearly been worth it. Nowhere else had he seen a building become the symbol of its region like Prism Tower. 

He could make out the Pokemon League logo plastered on its base, signifying it as the location of his next Gym Battle with the city’s Gym Leader, as he got closer to the tower and Centrico Plaza. “Why would someone make a gym inside a place like that? You’d think they would just get swarmed by tourists and nothing more.” He shrugged and instead pulled out his Badge Case, taking a look at the four he already had.

Aside from Santalune City’s gym, each of them had been somewhat easy to obtain. Santalune had been difficult for him, as he had picked Froakie as his starter, and hadn’t done much training in the forest with the Pansear and Fletchling that he caught. Viola’s Bug-Type Pokémon had been much hardier than he thought they would be. However, after that, he became more focused and the rest of the gyms had been much more manageable. Grant, Korrina, and Ramos each went down without much of a fight, with Ramos in particular being a surprise, given the type differences between him and the gym.

“Guess the old man prefers keeping the gym’s plant’s healthy over training his Pokémon,” Calem shrugged as he put the case away, “Right, according to the list, next up is….Clemont, the Electric-Type Gym Leader,” he glanced at the tower again, raising an eyebrow, “Apparently, you have to live by the type you train in Kalos… Nature photographer for bug, rock climber for Rock, extreme sports for Fighting, gardener for Grass...” he chuckled, “What, is the Psychic-Type Gym Leader gonna be one of those old ladies who reads my fortune while wearing a goofy cloak?” He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of some of these Gym Leaders and the lives they lived. 

As he walked down the streets, he felt something hit the back of his neck.

“GAH!” he shrieked, reaching behind him to see what hit him. It was a pebble. “Seriously!?” he shouted, looking around, “Who the hell is throwing rocks!?” there was no answer, aside from another pebble hitting him in the arm this time.

“Ouch!” he yelped, “what the hell? Show yourself!” 

“No need to make a scene, Calem.” Someone whispered from a nearby alley. The brown haired young man frowned and glanced over. He really couldn’t see anything thanks to the lack of light in the area.

“Oh yeah? Don’t wanna make a scene? Then come out and tell me what your issue with me is!” The trainer was quite irked by this person’s antics, and having them stay in the shadows only added more fuel to the fire. 

“Hmmm, I don’t think so.” the voice said, clearly mocking him. Followed by another pebble. And this one hit him square on the nose.

“OW!” he screamed in pain, “That’s it!” without thinking, the trainer dashed towards his attacker, diving into the alleyway in an attempt to tackle them to the ground. 

However, things didn’t go as planned. As soon as he crossed over into the shadows of the alleyway, he was grabbed on both sides. He yelped as he felt his arms pulled behind him, and handcuffed immediately. He thought he was being arrested for a second, until someone kicked the back of his leg and sent him down to his knees. A blindfold was strapped to his head, and a gag was shoved in his mouth. Before that though, he managed to get a glimpse of his captors. He saw a flash of orange and white on their bodies as he went down. 

“HMPH!” he tried screaming through his gag, knowing it was Team Flare. 

“Oh shut up,” he heard one of them say, before he felt a smack to the side of his head, his hat and glasses flying off thanks to the impact. The hit knocked the poor trainer unconscious, as his head hit the ground and his body went limp. Without any resistance, his captors hauled him down the alleyway towards a black van, where they threw him in the back. 

“That was a lot easier than I thought.” one of the admins said. 

“You’re telling me, I thought he’d go down with more of a fight.” the other agreed. 

“Of course you peabrains would think that.” their leader snipped, stepping out from the shadow of the van, “If you two had had to battle him he would’ve mopped the floor with you! You should be thanking me that I got him riled up enough to throw caution to the wind.” 

“R-Right. Thanks, Malva.” the two grunts replied, bowing to the much stronger member. They stepped into the van with their captor to keep an eye on him during the trip. Malva took to the driver’s seat, and sped down the alleyway and out of Lumiose City, heading north. With Calem off the streets, and with no one aware of where he was or what happened, all of their plans were now in reach. 

“I’m shocked that he fell for those insults” the admin in the passenger seat asked, “Are we sure he’s 18? He reacted like a 5 year old!”

“Trust me, I speak from experience when I say that when people have their emotions flare up, their maturity seems to drop like a rock in a lake. He was actually one of the most composed trainers I’ve seen. Some just break down in tears at some mean words and a loss.” Malva said as she sat down and looked at her quarry.

As for Calem himself, his mind was blank as he lay unconscious in the back of that van. He couldn’t feel or think or hear anything as they sped away, his body bouncing as they went over bumps in the road on their way back to headquarters. Little did he know that his friends were waiting for him in Centrico Square, preparing a surprise for him in celebration of his gym achievements. He wouldn’t be making it to their meeting, and he certainly wasn't challenging the Lumiose City gym. 

Soon, the van left Lumiose City and sped down into an old maintenance tunnel the Team had refurbished for easy travel through the region, speeding off towards Geosenge Town without anyone laying eyes on them. As soon as they entered the tunnel, it was as if the van hadn’t even existed. By extension, it was like Calem had never existed.

* * *

The only thing Calem could think about when he opened his eyes was how cold he was. Wherever he was felt practically arctic, and he couldn’t stop himself from shivering in the cold. His vision was clouded too, as he struggled to regain his focus and get at least a passing glimpse of where he was and what had happened to him. Adding to the list of things that he couldn’t seem to get a hold of, his memory was splintered, and his mind trapped in a dense fog of confusion. Nothing felt right, and nothing responded quite right to him. 

“Ugh…” Calem groaned, “Wh-What happened to me? I feel like I got run over by a Mamoswine.” While his vision was still hazy, he could at least make out that he wasn’t in Lumiose City anymore. The room was pale, and monotone. Nothing but blank grey metal lining the walls, with intense fluorescent lights hanging overtop, illuminating the room in harsh, cold light.

“Hey! Is anyone there?” he cried, trying to get someone’s attention, “Bonjour!?” 

There was no answer, only a distant hissing that he couldn’t place the source off. He could feel his head resting against something, but when he tried to get up, he couldn't. Whether it was from something holding him down, or his limbs being asleep he couldn’t tell. All he could do was move his head around and look about. He shivered again as he felt a breeze from overhead hit, and he could see what looked like an air vent right above him, with cold air blasting out of it. He shook his head and looked down, trying to see exactly why he couldn’t get up. As he did, he squeaked and his face flushed red.

Most of his clothes were gone, and he was left wearing nothing but his boxers. Still, he did some strange glowing blue things wrapped around his ankles, though he couldn’t make out what it was. It didn’t feel like metal, and it certainly didn’t look like it either. It looked like it was made out of some kind of energy that he couldn’t explain or comprehend. The same shackles were at his wrists, holding his hands and arms up, keeping the young trainer crucified on the wall. 

“Well, at least that explains why I can’t get up…” he muttered as he tried to break through them. The shackles weren’t zapping him or anything. They seemed to bend as he tried to push out, but they held him tight. He was well and truly stuck to the wall until someone came to either help him out, or came back to finish whatever dastardly thing they had in store. 

One thing was for certain to Calem though, and that was who was responsible for putting him in this predicament. As his vision finally began to clear up, he frowned as he saw the logo on the wall he was forced to stare at. A big orange flame painted right in the middle of the opposing wall like some sick mural.

“Team Flare….” he muttered, spitting the name out with pure anger. The logo seemed to pulsate in front of him. Flickering as if it was actually made of fire. The real fire though was inside him as his hatred grew to a roaring wildfire inside his body. That wildfire was interrupted by a loud hissing noise to his left, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.

“Ah good”, a voice devoid of emotions said, growing louder and louder as it approached, Calem turned to see a rather plump figure enter the room, sporting a red and white uniform that was typical of Team Flare’s men. His red hair was cut into three sections, with the middle rising up to form a flame-like shape, and a goatee at his chin for good measure. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of beady goggles, and a communication device was fixed securely in his right ear. Calem didn’t recognize him at all, but he knew he was trouble. 

“You're awake” he said, as he marched into the chamber, planting himself firmly in front of his prisoner. “I am Xerosic. Head scientist here at Team Flare. It is good to see you conscious.” He stood like a statue, with his hands behind his back and his body standing straight as a pole, aside from the bulbous gut. He had either had too much to eat or too much to drink and Calem wasn’t close enough to tell one way or the other. With how pale he was, and with how little he moved or emoted, Calem wouldn't have been shocked if the guy was made of marble!

“Yeah? What of it?” Calem spat, “Lotta good being awake is gonna do me.” he struggled again against the strange glowing shackles.

“I sympathise.” the man said, “If I could feel pity, I would probably be feeling that right now. However, I have a job to do, and whether you are awake or not is of little concern of mine. I just thought you would like to see what is going to happen to you rather than find out about it after the fact.” 

“Oh yeah? And what’s that? You gonna force me to model one of those shit suits your grunts prance around in?” Calem growled, trying to kick the man. 

The scientist didn’t care, instead he walked to a nearby console and began typing away on it. 

“What are you doing!?” Calem shouted as he tried to escape again. 

“Making sure I have everything correct.” Xerosic said as a hiss rang out from above, as a small device lowered itself and put itself in front of Calem. It lit up red and a light shot out, going over him.

“GAH!” he cried as he got scanned, all information about him being sent to Xerosic’s computer.

“Please try not to be so dramatic. You were not harmed in any way just now.” 

“Easy for you to say. You’re not pinned to the wall.” Calem hissed

“And I should not be. Let me see… You are Calem Xavier, age 18. Current residence Vaniville Town, House #3?” 

“W-What the fuck?” Calem stammered out, his eyes going wide, “How do you know that!?”

“I have access to the national records thanks to Team Flare’s connections.” he went on without even looking up from his station, “Originally from Nacrene City, Unova Region. Received first Pokémon, the Bubble Frog Pokémon Froakie, Water-Type, from Professor Sycamore in Aquacorde Town shortly after relocating approximately one month ago along with your friends. The professor was not in attendance when you received your Pokémon, but you later met him in person at his lab on Lumiose City’s South Boulevard. You have received four of the eight gym badges in the Kalos League? Santalune, Cyllage, Shalour, and Coumarine. Was about to challenge Lumiose Gym when captured for processing. Am I correct?”

Calem didn't answer, but his silence was all the answer Xerosic needed. He nodded and pressed a few more buttons. The scanner shook and moved closer to Calem, right where his heart was. He was about to give another snarky remark until he felt a stinging pain where the scanner touched him. 

“This one you can be a little more dramatic about I would say.” the scientist warned him after the fact. 

“GAH!” he shouted, a stinging pain stayed put as the scanner did whatever it was doing. Two minutes later, the scanner pulled away, leaving Calem with sweat running down his forehead. “W-What did you do?”

“Take a look yourself. Unlike what you are probably thinking, I am not here to explain everything to you,” Xerosic said. Calem glared at him before he looked down, and his eyes went wide. 

“YOU TATTOOED A FUCKING BARCODE ON ME!?” Calem shouted, struggling once again with renewed energy.

“It is for the sake of simple identification,” Xerosic said calmly “Do not worry, it is not a brand or the like. It is a simple tattoo. If it is ever needed, it can easily be removed.”

“You say that like removing tattoos is easy.” Calem winced, still feeling the sting from the laser on his chest. 

“You have no faith in medicine or technology then, Calem Xavier.” Xerosic scoffed, “Although on a personal note, I must say I am rather impressed by your choice of underwear. I really did not pin you as the kind of person to wear latex briefs as your regular undergarment.” 

Calem’s face flushed a bright cherry red, “Y-You can tell what they are? I hadn’t even shined them...”

“Rubber is commonly used in lab equipment, young man. I have grown used to how it looks. Especially when it is not shined.” he pointed at the blue glove he had on his left hand and its twin in his coat pocket, “Shining them is actually discouraged. The material used to shine latex can contaminate samples. However, in private settings, shining can be a sensual thing, which is what I assume you were implying with your mumbling. Not that you would be using those in any kind of lab. The large, promiscuous bulge in between your legs was a dead giveaway.”

“G-Guess that makes sense…. I tend to forget it's used in medicine…” he muttered, still bright red. 

Xerosic didn't care about his shame and went back to typing on his computer. “Now to begin the procedure.”

“Procedure?” Calem muttered, leaning over as much as he could to see what exactly the scientist was typing. His eyes went wide as he saw his finger hover over the delete key. “What the hell are you doing? Deleting me from your own database?”

“Making sure no one finds you” he said calmly and pressed the button. A small bar appeared on screen as all of Calem’s files began to disappear one by one, “This is not the Team Flare database. This is the Pokémon League.”

The Pokémon trainer gulped, watching in horror as each of his files were deleted one by one. His Pokémon, his gym battles, his trainer status, his travels, his relationships, his time in Unova, his friends, his family, even his own birth. All of them were wiped off the League’s database, and by extension he was wiped from existence from the world. With just a few keystrokes, Xerosic had turned him into a ghost. Calem’s eyes went even wider as the man walked away from his console, which sank into the floor.

“W-Why did you?” he stammered out, his face again going red, but not from embarrassment, this time out of pure rage, “YOU JUST DELETED MY WHOLE LIFE!!! HOW DARE YOU!” 

“How dare I?” Xerosic turned, giving the trainer a cold stare, “How dare you throw a monkey wrench in Commander Lysandre’s carefully laid out plans. How dare you stand in our way as we attempt to rebuild this terrible world into a perfect, flawless one.” 

“Lysandre?!” Calem gasped, “So he’s the one behind Team Flare!?” 

“Oh you stupid boy. Team Flare is much larger than you know. If you are surprised by Lysandre’s two faced strategy, you will surely be surprised to learn how many more operatives we have in plain sight.” The scientist paused, taking a breath before continuing, “But that is not for you to know, at least not in your current state.” 

“My current state?” the trainer repeated, “What’s that supposed to mean? The fact you’ve got me strapped to a fucking wall? That’s not a state! That’s an annoyance!”

“I find your lack of language comprehension disturbing.” Xerosic responded coldly, “No matter however. I feel putting your transformation into words would not do it justice anyways, so I will just let you figure it out as it happens.” 

“Transformation!? What? Is your plan to turn me into a fucking Pokemon or something!?” Calem shouted as he tried to break free of the shackles, only to once again be unable to. Xerosic didn’t react, instead he walked to the wall that Calem was forced to stare at. Suddenly, there was a loud clang and a hiss above them. Calem looked up to see the ceiling opening, and a pair of long, mechanical arms came down and approached his nearly nude body. 

“H-Hey!” Calem shouted as the arms approached him. He glared at the scientist as he pressed a few keys on the wall. 

Steam shot out from the edges as it slowly lowered, revealing a glass casing with a strange looking suit behind it. He could see more arms doing last minute work before it rolled itself out into the room. The mechanical arms that hung in front of him took the case and opened it, pulling the strange suit out. They approached him once more, this time with it in their claws. 

The suit was mostly black, with some red on the shoulders. Upon closer inspection, Calem could see that it seemed to be more armored there, like it came with shoulder pads. The chest was also, but not quite as much. Regardless, it all looked flexible, even where it was supposedly reinforced. It all seemed to be made of shimmering latex that would cover him from his neck to his ankles. A pair of rubber boots were being moved right alongside the suit itself, and there were attached gloves and socks dangling as they brought it out, with their fingers and toes bouncing around as it swayed. Under different circumstances, the trainer wouldn’t have minded one bit about wearing the suit. In fact, he might’ve been glad to. 

“W-What is that!?” Calem shouted as he felt the claws clamp around his arms

“That is the Flare Special Operations and Conversion suit. But I call it the Expansion Suit, since it rolls off the tongue easier.” Xerosic coughed, “And it’s going to be your new uniform, Agent Calem.” 

“Agent?!” he cried, “So that’s your game! You want me to serve you!” 

“Not me. Serve Lysandre and Team Flare to be more precise.” Xerosic said as he gave the suit one last look over, “Hm, thinking it over, Agent Calem is not a good title for you. We will come up with a better one after the process is complete and you have completed your training.” The scientist walked towards the door, causing Calem to panic, “for now, I bid you au revoir and bon voyage, mon ami.” He waved to the prisoner, and stepped through to the other side.

“H-Hey! G-Get back here you little!” Calem shouted as the door closed. He gulped as the arms moved closer to him. One reached down and grabbed his boxers, slipping them off slowly. It seemed whatever energy was holding him up, other matter could interact with it and pass through it, but he could not, “HEY! STOP THAT!” he shouted, kicking the device. It didn’t slow the machine down, as it took off his underpants, gently folding them as if it was programmed to do that.

With his undergarments taken care of, the arms took the suit and began the process of getting it on his body. From how they interacted with it, Calem could tell that it had no zippers of any kind. They removed the armored shoulder pads before they stretched out the neck a substantial amount in order to get his legs through it. 

“H-Hey, y-you don’t have to do this,” he stammered out, hoping Xerosic was in control of these things and he was listening in, “J-Just let me go and I won’t ever bother Team Flare again.”

His plea went unanswered, except for another arm coming closer and spraying him with some kind of grease. He spat as some of it got in his mouth. He looked down and saw that his body was glistening where the spray touched his skin. Judging by the suit, it was probably some kind of lubricant. 

His suspicions were proven correct when they began shimmying the suit up his leg. Thanks to the spray that was applied to his body moments ago, the garment seemed to race up his body, with little in the way of resistance, with some arms with hands molded to look like human hands smoothed out any wrinkles and bubbles. He was shocked really. The lubricant had basically eliminated all friction between his skin and the suit.

“I wish I had this kind of lube for my own latex…” Calem mumbled under his breath, blushing as he felt it brush against his skin. He couldn’t deny that he was enjoying the feeling of the latex on his body, only wishing that it was under different circumstances. He certainly couldn’t hide the erection between his legs.

Soon the suit had covered him to his waist. Before the suiting could continue, the shackles around his ankles deactivated and he was lifted up into the air by his wrists.

“Woah!” Calem yelped, kicking pointlessly in the air, trying to get the machines to drop him.

As the suit continued up his chest, hiding and suppressing his erection in a tidy, locked bulge, his feet were placed into the boots that came with the suit. He watched as they formed a seamless look with the rest of the suit, almost appearing as if they were attached themselves. Curious, he wiggled his toes inside them, finding them to be very comfortable. 

“Small comfort at least” he muttered as he still tried to break free.

The machines didn’t care however, as his arms were forced into the suit’s sleeves, each individual finger finding their home in the gloves. He clenched his fists, seeing that he had unlimited freedom of movement, and no loss of dexterity. Not long after, his suit was on completely, as it finished at his neck, nearly going up his chin it was so high up his body. He felt the shoulder pads in the suit, as the suit was ridiculously tight, but also unbelievably comfortable and shiny. 

He was brought a bit lower, so that his now booted feet touched the ground. He still wasn’t released though. Though the energy shackles were gone completely, one of the arms took his arms and held them behind his back before he had time to react. Slight motions making the suit squeak as it rubbed against the metal of the machines.

The scanner from before moved again, positioning itself in front of his face.

“What, you gonna tattoo my forehead?” he spat as the thing scanned his head, a red light blinking. The machine, thankfully, didn’t try to give him another barcode, but it simply sat there, a red light blinking as the other arms moved around him.

“What? You fry a circuit or something!?” Calem growled as he tried to break free of the clamps holding him in place. However, he stopped when he realised one of the arms was right next to his head, and he could hear a buzzing from it.

Before he could react, the thing had stuck to his head and began cutting off his hair. Not completely, but it cut off quite a bit of it. He tried to move his head out of the way, but another clamp grabbed his throat and forced his head to stay still as he was given a new hairstyle. After a few minutes, the shaving machine moved back, he looked down to see much of his brown hair in clumps on the floor. 

Though he couldn't see it, the machine had left him with a buzzcut. Like a soldier in the military, he wasn’t allowed the luxury of his own hair apparently. He couldn’t help but shed a tear, having worked so hard to grow and style his hair the way he wanted it to be. All the compliments he had gotten on it now felt worthless and distant. 

“Fuck, fine! Are we done you creepy fucker!?” Calem shouted, seething with anger as he was held in place. Again, there was no response from Xerosic. Instead there was another hiss as the last part of the suit was brought up.

It was a small helmet, measured perfectly for his head by the looks of it. It was dark, almost black, like the rest of his suit, and he couldn’t tell where the front of it was. Each side of it seemed to be equally as opaque as any other side. Only one part was different, and that was a dark orange C on the side facing him. It was the only part of the helmet that wasn’t black. 

“C for Calem? You shouldn’t have.” he scoffed. Although he played it cool, he was legitimately terrified by this helmet. The thing was brought closer and it was opened so his head could be put inside. His eyes went wide as he saw a line of microchips, wires and other electronics pressed tight to the sides that he couldn’t even begin to guess the function off. “Helmet’s shouldn’t have that much stuff inside….” he muttered as the thing was slowly lowered over his skull. He winced as he felt it close over him. He felt a hiss as it was locked in place, and felt something clamp to his ears. He blinked as he stared out of the helmet.

Everything had a light orange tint, but other than that it seemed to be nothing special. But it was deemed enough for the clamps to finally let him go.

“WOAH!” he exclaimed as he fell face down, managing to catch himself just in time before he smacked his new helmet on the metal ground. However, he didn’t take the time to worry about that. As soon as he regained his footing, he attempted to take off his new gear, starting with the helmet. Calem tried pulling it off of his head, but it wouldn’t come off. He tried looking for a seam to crack it open with, but it was as if it was perfectly molded. For all intents and purposes, it seemed the helmet was locked onto his head, and there was no way to take it off without the proper equipment, and he certainly didn’t have that.

“Ah good. Everything seems to have been done correctly,” a familiar voice whispered directly into his ear.

“What the!?” Calem exclaimed, turning around, thinking there was someone standing behind him “Who said that? Show yourself!”

“How did you ever defeat my grunts with an intellect as lacking as yours?” the voice said, clearly frustrated, “There’s a radio built into your helmet unit.”

“Oh, right… I knew that.” Calem lied, “What do you want with me?! Why did you do this to me?! Who are you?!” 

“It doesn’t matter what or why I want you,” the voice stated, “What matters is that you belong to me now, Calem. You’re mine, and soon, you will call me, Lysandre, your master.” 

“Lysandre!?” Calem hissed, remembering that Xerosic mentioned him “Here I thought you were just a rich guy helping Team Flare out! You’re their fucking boss?”

“Hmph, well have to work on your language first of all. I won’t have my servants speaking like that!” the man said, uncaring about Calem’s accusations, “Now it's time to see if Xerosic’s pet project is up to snuff. Initiate drone program.” 

“Drone progra-” before Calem had time to finish, the helmet’s visor went dark, and the line went dead other than a rather persistent and annoying ringing in his ears. He was listening to a single sound, played endlessly at the same, uncomfortable frequency through his helmet’s radio. 

“GAH!” he cried, by reflex trying to cover his ears as the sound kept going “WHAT’S YOUR PLAN, TO MAKE ME DEAF!?” he shouted as he closed his eyes. Soon the sound went dead however, and the young trainer was left at peace once again. 

“Sweet Reshiram… the fuck was that!?” he moaned, sweat pouring down his forehead. He called out to Lysandre for an answer, but he did not respond. There was no sound coming to his ears now, not even the sound of his own body. Lysandre had left him deaf and blind, mechanically not physically, as the earmuffs canceled out all outside sound and the dark glass not letting him see anything, not even his own nose. He couldn’t even hear the sound of his own heartbeat through the earmuffs. Up, down, left, and right became hard to discern, and he doubted whether he was still in the suit at all. His body couldn’t feel anything with his finger either. The suit seemed to shut off his sense of touch, as he couldn’t discern if he was feeling anything at all. Everything felt topsy-turvy as he was thrown into the abyss by his soon to be master. 

“Wh-where am I?” he said, in his mind, the only place where he could still hear himself talking, “What’s going on? I can’t see anything… I can’t feel anything… It’s so quiet…” A tear ran down his cheek, the only thing he could legitimately feel. The young trainer, though he didn’t know it, found himself curling up in a ball on the floor, weeping like he had never wept before, “I wanna go home.” 

He sat there for Arcues knows how long, waiting for someone or something to finally come to his aid, or at least converse with him. The silence was deafening, and the darkness disturbing. He felt his sanity slipping away from him, until something finally happened. A bright light pierced his eyes, nearly blinding him for a moment, until it died down and became a simple dot in front of him in the black void. He found himself focusing on it, and its pulsating glow, so desperate to see something. 

_ You are home, Calem. You are merely a drone and this is your home.  _

Calem didn’t understand what was happening, as the light seemed to speak to him. His sense of hearing was returned to him, selectively. He could hear himself speak for the first time, and he tried to protest. His voice came back to him as merely a whisper, drowned out almost entirely by the light’s booming, yet strangely calming voice. 

_ Forget your old life. It doesn’t exist anymore. You are merely a drone. _

Without realizing it, Calem found it hard to remember much of his life. Instantly, his memory began to slip away from him like the deleted files in Xerosic’s computer. 

“N-No…” he muttered, struggling a little against the device, “I-I’m not a drone…. I-I won’t forget.” However much he tried to struggle though, his memories and his personality were still slipping away from him bit by bit. His brain was so softened up by the piercing sound and the isolation he had felt it was accepting orders with no question. 

_ You live to serve Team Flare. This is all you’ve ever known. You are merely a drone.  _

“N-” he tried to speak, but found himself unable to. His memories were almost completely wiped from his mind, as his brain was becoming more of a hard drive than a human organ. He found himself listening to the programming more and more, as his mind was shut out, and his personality was wiped clean. Like a good machine, he took the programming he received and dutifully listened to it without question. 

_ You are merely a drone.  _

“I am merely a drone,” he muttered, his voice devoid of emotion. 

_ You live to serve Team Flare.  _

“I live to serve Team Flare.” he repeated, without blinking or reacting to what he was saying. 

_ All you have ever known is Team Flare _

“All I have ever known is Team Flare.”

_ You love Team Flare. You would give everything to serve Team Flare.  _

“I love Team Flare. I would give everything to serve Team Flare.” he repeated, despite not understanding what love was any more.

_ Lysandre is your master. You follow your master’s orders without question.  _

“Lysandre is my master. I follow my master’s orders without question.”

_ You devote yourself fully to your master and his ideals. Your master’s ideals are your ideals.  _

“I devote myself fully to my master and his ideals. My master’s ideals are my ideals.” he repeated, not really caring about ideals. But if he was told to have them, he would.

_ Your designation is CX-17 and you live to serve your master.  _

“My designation is CX-17 and I live to serve my master.” the newly designated drone repeated, staring ahead as the words filled his ears.

_ You are merely a drone. _

“I am merely a drone.” he said. The earmuffs unlocked and turned back into regular headphones again, the sense of touch flooded back into his body and the glass became see through once again. He didn’t move however, he simply stayed put, staring blankly ahead at the Team Flare logo on the wall in front of him. 

“Stand!” a voice came through the headphones and he obeyed without a word or reaction. The door hissed open again, and the ringing of footsteps told him two people had entered the room. He turned to face them, his helmet scanning them and telling him who they were immediately. 

“It seems to have turned out perfectly.” Lysandre observed. 

“Hmm...” Xerosic said as he walked closer to the drone, “I’m not sure…”

“What do you mean?”

“I admit I had to write the drone code on the fly,” Xerosic said calmly, stroking his chin, “I expected it would take a bit longer to capture our subject. What was used on Calem was a more simplistic program.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“The drone is useful for simple work, but that’s about it. The most complex thing it can do at the moment is clean a toilet. I did however, compensate for this flaw and it can be modified quickly for whatever mission is required of it.”

“Turned a flaw into a feature?” Lysandre asked. 

“What program today cannot be upgraded or modified to a newer version? Why should our drones be any different? Its programming can be endlessly modified to achieve anything you desire. You can turn it into a sleeper agent, a vanguard, a personal servant. Anything you wish of it, we can make sure it is programmed to do so.” The drone simply stood there, not understanding what its masters were saying.

“Very interesting. You’ve outdone yourself, Xerosic!” Lysandre laughed, turning to his new servant, “I’ve got a lot of plans for you, my young Calem. Hehe… you are going to be my trump card.” 

“Designation unknown master,” the drone said, staring ahead as Xerosic walked behind him.

“I’ve got a prototype program to upload into him, to test the system if you are interested.” he stated. 

“What will it do?” Lysandre asked, raising an eyebrow as his scientist pulled out a USB drive from his pocket.

“Bodyguard,” Xerisoc explained, “It was the simplest one to make on the short timetable you gave me. Not that that was an issue, mind you.” he took the USB drive and stuck it into the back of the drone’s helmet. 

“Media inserted. One file detected. Bodyguard.exe. Uploading.” it said, completely emotionless, like a robot. The deafness and blindness returned for a short time as its new programming was planted into its brain.

_ You are a bodyguard. You live to protect your master from all harm _

“I am a bodyguard. I live to protect my master from all harm.” he repeated, just as monotonous as his initial programming mantra.

_ Your existence does not matter. Only your master’s safety does _

“My existence does not matter. Only my master’s safety does.” 

_ You only respond to your master’s words. No one else’s words matter _

“I only respond to my master’s words. No one else’s words matter.” the drone paused for a short second, as his sight and hearing was restored to him. “Upload complete. Loading Bodyguard.exe.” Xerosic took the USB drive out of his helmet and put it back into his pocket. 

“There we go. He should be your bodyguard for the next week,” Xerosic explained

“Why a week only?” Lysandre asked as the drone moved closer to its master. It bowed to Lysandre before marching behind him, standing at attention in his shadow until he was ordered to do something else or needed to protect his master from threats. 

“The suit requires maintenance. And the drone will still need rest, even if it’s less than a human would.” Xerosic explained, “Need I remind you that despite its mannerisms, there is still a human inside of that suit. Calem is still a human being, and does require at least basic treatment as a human. However, when he is in the suit, you can do with it as you wish.” 

“And when it's not in the suit?” Lysandre asked. 

“It will be in this facility resting in it’s pod and being fed and watered. I will also run some basic medical exams to make sure it’s healthy and also do necessary firmware updates to its programming. Make no mistake. It will not be turning back to its old self when out of the suit. Calem is locked away deep inside our systems, both his personality and his official data from the Pokémon League. He won’t be able to make it back to his body on his own, if ever.” 

“Good. That’s the last thing we need is for Calem to return.” Lysandre nodded, “I think we can all agree we like him better this way.” he turned towards the door, “Come, drone.”

“Yes, master.” the drone replied, marching behind its master dutifully, leaving Xerosic alone inside its old prison chamber. The scientist got to work making sure the drone’s chambers were ready for its first servicing. 

In the meantime, it was ready and willing to do everything for its master and for Team Flare.

* * *

**ONE WEEK LATER**

Unit CX-17 calmly stepped out of the elevator to Team Flare HQ, completely alone. Its master had sent it back for regular maintenance after a week of bodyguard duty.

The week was relatively quiet. CX-17 kept watch over Master Lysandre as he gave speeches in the square of Lumiose City and announced some tech upgrade the drone didn’t remember the details of. Not that they really mattered to it. Drones weren’t supposed to remember the details of their operations unless they pertained to their master. 

“Um…” a grunt muttered as it walked up to the drone, “Are you…. CX-17?”

“Affirmative,” CX-17 said with a robotic nod, “Why are you requesting my designation?”

“Um, Xerosic asked me to escort you to your room…” the grunt said, clearly intimidated by the drone’s appearance. CX-17 had noticed that the grunts had still not gotten used to its appearance and candor. It didn’t matter that much to it, but it had stuck in its memory during its service period. 

“Very well. Please escort me to Doctor Xerosic.” the drone ordered, “

“S-Sure,” the grunt said, turning around heading to the elevator at the back of the room. The Drone kept pace with the grunt, ignoring the looks and glares he got from the other members of Team Flare. It didn’t understand why they looked at it like that. Fear of obsolescence? To this day, no one had seen its face. All they had seen was its polished, emotionless helmet, although if they had been able to see the unit’s face, they wouldn’t think much more of it, as the human inside the suit continued to be emotionless and blank. 

They marched down the corridor, passing by several identical rooms, each small and insignificant to the drone. It could see grunts and scientists walk in and out of them, a few with posters and other pieces of decorations. 

“Why are the grunts wasting resources with frivolous objects?” the unit asked its escort, a moment of genuine curiosity bubbling to the surface.

“W-What? D-Did you just ask me something?” the grunt stammered out, sweat pouring down his forehead. 

“Affirmative,” the unit nodded. 

“U-Uh… I-I don’t know…” the grunt replied, incredibly nervous and intimidated by the drone. “I-I thought you couldn’t ask questions….”

“Hmm…” the drone trailed off, looking into each room. At that very moment, inside its mind, Calem was fighting back against the programming, trying desperately to claw his way back into control. On the other side of its helmet, its eyes were wide with shock and anxiety. It was a feeling alien to the drone and it did not like it. Calem had only gained control of his eyes, but nothing else, and only for a short moment. Its native programming regained control over its systems shortly thereafter, banishing Calem to the far reaches of its mind. 

“I require maintenance,” the drone stated, “I must see Doctor Xerosic immediately.” 

“Um...sure,” the grunt muttered as the two reached the elevator. It opened and the man stepped aside for CX-17 to step inside “G-Go ahead. He’s waiting for you in your room”

The drone nodded and stepped inside. The door slid closed and the correct floor to go to popped up on its HUD. Without wasting a second, the unit pressed the button and waited for the elevator to take it to its destination. As it waited, its helmet was unlocked remotely by Xerosic, and he was prompted to take it off in preparation for its scheduled maintenance routine. The unit reached behind and pulled the helmet off, opening it up from the back and removing it from its head.It breathed fresh air for the first time in a week, not through the rebreather of the helmet. It could see its reflection on the polished steel walls of the elevator.

The complete lack of sunlight for an entire week had taken away the tan Calem had once possessed, leaving the drone quite pale. Its eyes were blank and emotionless, and bags could be seen under them, indicating that the unit had been awake for far longer than it should have been. Lysandre had had his new drone shadowing it 24/7l, and hadn’t allowed it to sleep during its service period. Now that it was approaching its maintenance period, a part of it longed for sleep. Its short hair was no longer perfectly uniformed, some stray hairs were beginning to grow out of place, indicating it needed some trimming as well. Some sweat could be seen on its skin, mostly due to the suit’s AC system failing two days ago, but the unit didn’t complain.

As it stared into its reflection, something inside him sparked up. Its eyes grew wide with fear, and it clasped at its head as the elevator came to a stop.

“AHHHH!” it screamed in agony, “Unit… malfunction… overload… imminent…!” The reflection in the wall had provided a window for Calem to take more control of his body, and it seemed that opportunity had severely damaged the drone’s programming. 

“GET OUT OF MY BODY!” Calem screamed, taking control of his body’s voice once again, “I AM NOT A DRONE!” 

“Ugh! Overload! Overload! Suppression not possible! Failure imminent!” the drone voice came back, struggling to maintain control. It banged its body against the walls of the elevator, in a desperate attempt to get back in control. 

“Unit CX-17: activate soft reboot,” Xerosic said as the elevator door opened, clearly not surprised by the Drone’s actions.

The drone froze in place, as all its muscles seized up and forbade it from moving an inch. It stood in place in the center of the elevator, standing straight as a bean pole, staring straight ahead with a wide, blank look in its eyes. On the inside, Calem was slowly falling back, as the reboot pushed him back into the far reaches of its mind, and attempted to wipe him out completely. Its helmet had fallen to the floor in the scuffle, laying open. 

“Had a feeling this would happen eventually,” Xerosic said, taking the helmet from the elevator floor, “Lysandre seems to have forgotten you're a prototype, and pushed you too far for your first assignment. Your programming is not strong enough for the rigorous service periods he wants you to do.” 

“Soft reboot complete,” CX-17 said as it slowly began to move again, blinking rapidly as it seemed to wake up from a trance.

“Drone Unit CX-17. System check and report!” Xerosic barked at the drone. 

“System check initiating. Software system check complete. Report: no anomalies, all good.” the drone spat out the data the scientist needed.

“Hardware report.” the scientist ordered. 

“Hardware check initiating. Hardware check complete. Drone at 15% capacity. Insomnia, starvation, dehydration, general fatigue detected. Rest, nourishment and cleaning required.” the drone said, the bags under its eyes being more obvious in the lighting. 

“Tsk tsk, he pushed you way too hard. I imagine he took his resentment for Calem out on you. It’s a miracle that your systems did not overload and fail sooner. Your reflection in the elevator door must have been the trigger that allowed Calem to potentially take back control. If we don’t act soon, he will have another opportunity before your maintenance is even started.” he marched towards the opposite end of the room, “CX-17, come. We must begin your maintenance immediately.” 

“Affirmative.” the drone nodded and followed him. The doctor typed away on one of the many computers that popped out of the floor in the HQ. The wall hissed and slid open, revealing what looked like a pod of some kind, along with more robotic arms that moved towards the drone.

CX-17 didn’t fight them, instead he willingly gave himself over to the arms as they began to remove the Expansion Suit. Within seconds, the unit was left naked in the chamber. His penis became erect almost immediately, free from the Expansion Suit’s locked bulge. 

“Begin cleaning.” Xerosic stated, pressing a button on his keyboard.

The floor below CX-17 began to lower, sending him down below the room and into a special cleaning room. It was blasted by various jets of water, all of which were ice cold. The drone didn’t flinch in the slightest as soap was mixed into the water and the robotic arms began to scrub the sweat and grime away. There was a lot of that to get rid of, as Lysandre had never allowed it to take off its suit and shower. Sweating almost continuously, it also stank like a Skuntank. It took a lot of scrubbin to get the stench off of its body, but once it was complete, the unit smelled fresh like rain. As it was cleaned, a shaver arm made sure to keep its hair uniform and even, including on the rest of its body.

Shortly after its shower, a new assembly came out of the walls, clamping itself around its waist. It resembled a metal diaper, wrapping around its waist and groin, with two hoses coming out from either side. On cue, the drone relieved itself, and the contraption retreated back into the wall afterwards. The arms returned, holding a pair of latex briefs and knee high socks in their claws. They had him step into the briefs, and pull them up to his groin once more, hiding his privates in a neat bulge once more. The arms lifted him up and put the socks on his feet, covering his toes completely and making his feet resemble blobs. He also was given a pair of long, latex opera gloves, which were slipped onto his arms effortlessly. Like the socks, it left the drone’s hands useless, as a precaution in case the programming failed. The arms lowered the drone to the floor one last time and retracted back to the walls. Then, lights on the floor turned on, showing it a path.,

“Follow the lights and enter your pod, CX-17,” Xerosic’s voice came through the PA system.

“Affirmative.” CX-17 obeyed, marching ahead. Soon, he came to a line of pods that covered most of the wall. There were too many to count, and even more on the other wall. The drone for a second wondered which was its pod, but that disappeared when a scanner popped out of the ground and read the barcode on its chest.

“Unit CX-17,” the machine beeped out, “Bringing down container P-17.”

The wall shuddered for a second as the pods began to move on rails. Soon, it stopped as one specific pod was brought in front of the platform, and moved forwards. Steam shot out of the sides as the black glass cover opened, revealing a mold for the drone to stand in perfectly. It stepped in without protest, laying down with its back down and face up. The pod’s lid closed as soon as the drone got into position, and was sent back to its designated spot in the lineup. 

The inside of the pod was lit by a soft orange light as the drone simply lay there, staring ahead until the pod stopped moving with a loud clunk.

“Initiating nourishment,” a robotic voice stated. A band rose up from the molding it lay in, wrapping around its mouth, forming a ring gag that forced its mouth open in preparation for its feeding tube to be inserted. The feeding tube rose up from the same molding, connecting with its ring gag, forming a perfect seal with its mouth. It pumped a liquid mixture into its mouth, which its swallowed without incident. It felt relief as its stomach stopped growling, and its hunger satiated. Soon, the nutrient paste stopped being pumped in, and was replaced with pure water. The drone drank every drop with no complaint, staring ahead at the black glass that separates it from the rest of the world as it drank.

“Nourishment complete,” the robotic voice said, as the hose was ripped from the drone’s mouth with a loud pop. The ring gag was undone and the instruments disappeared back into the pod’s machinery, leaving no indication it was ever there.

“Update pending,” the robotic voice noted, “Update will be administered during shutdown. Shutdown initiating.” the lights began to dim slowly until the drone was in complete darkness

“Affirmative. CX-17 shutting down.” the drone obeyed, immediately closing its eyes. Its brain shut down completely, save for the subliminal messages that were being pumped into its head from speakers integrated into the molding at his ears.

_ You are a drone. You have always been a drone. Being a drone is all you know. The name Calem means nothing to you. It is meaningless. Calem does not exist. Calem has never existed.  _

_ There is only CX-17. _

_ There is only CX-17. _

_ There is only CX-17.  _

The mantra repeated ad nauseum for the duration of the unit’s rest period, pleting it with reminders about what it was. An obedient drone for Team Flare. Nothing more and nothing less. All that the drone had to care about was its service to Team Flare and Lysandre. 

As for Calem, he was left locked in his own mind. A prisoner of the programming his body was now controlled by, and the drone did everything it could to keep it that way. 


End file.
